June
2004
Is
very happy now still, even though it's off the porch and
in a sheltered spot of the yard with similar conditions.
Flowers often. Very happy plant. And such a pretty purple.
2002
Well,
for the longest time I wasn't sure what to do with this plant.
I got these pretty rare African Violets from my friend who
runs the UC Riverside Botanical Gardens at one of their HUGE
biannual plant sales. Plants are like 5 bucks apiece at these
things--it's great! When I got the plant, it had just two
scrawny leaves. I had been told that violets could be hard
to deal with, but for a five dollar investment it wasn't
like it was a big deal. I set it out on my porch, where it
gets lots of indirect light, and slowly, new leaves started
to come. At the beginning of May 2001, it had been about
a year and half, and the plant had never flowered. I figured
I'd feed it and see what happened. Well, when something works,
it works. I happened to be using Dr. Earth products this
time, but the Gardens Alive products that I sell on my site
are great too, and I've used them in the past with much success.
The plant burst into flowers about a month later and looks
so happy right where it is. The key, I've been told, is to
1) Never let the soil dry out and 2) Feed the plant when
it seems to need it. I've also heard stuff about watering
from underneath, but I've watered normally around the base
of the plant, and water drips onto it from a hanging plant
above it, so from my experience, it appears that this suggestion
is not absolutely necessary to ensure success. In addition
to looking beautiful, violets are quite a pretty and tasty
addition to dress up a salad, and can also be used to flavor
honey to use as a spread or to stir into yogurt.
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